QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL) Given Average Rating of “Reduce” by Analysts

Shares of QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL) have received a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the seven analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $38.20.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $33.00 target price (down previously from $40.00) on shares of QuidelOrtho in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Zacks Research cut shares of QuidelOrtho from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of QuidelOrtho from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 7th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of QuidelOrtho from $26.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a report on Wednesday, October 8th.

QuidelOrtho Stock Up 3.1%

QDEL opened at $34.34 on Friday. QuidelOrtho has a 12 month low of $19.50 and a 12 month high of $46.24. The company has a market cap of $2.33 billion, a PE ratio of -2.02 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The company has a 50 day moving average of $27.44 and a 200 day moving average of $27.62.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $699.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $667.45 million. QuidelOrtho had a positive return on equity of 5.75% and a negative net margin of 42.53%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.85 earnings per share. QuidelOrtho has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.000-2.150 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that QuidelOrtho will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at QuidelOrtho

In other QuidelOrtho news, CFO Joseph M. Busky purchased 4,770 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $26.06 per share, with a total value of $124,306.20. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer directly owned 6,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $180,335.20. The trade was a 221.86% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian J. Blaser acquired 23,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 19th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $21.34 per share, with a total value of $501,490.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 29,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $630,234.22. This represents a 389.52% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders acquired a total of 29,390 shares of company stock worth $657,340 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On QuidelOrtho

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of QuidelOrtho by 87.0% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,906,763 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,604,000 after acquiring an additional 1,352,503 shares during the last quarter. Newtyn Management LLC raised its position in QuidelOrtho by 58.3% during the third quarter. Newtyn Management LLC now owns 2,700,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,515,000 after purchasing an additional 994,332 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in QuidelOrtho by 201.6% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 941,370 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,130,000 after purchasing an additional 629,246 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in QuidelOrtho by 46.1% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,678,670 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,385,000 after purchasing an additional 529,770 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its stake in QuidelOrtho by 23.3% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,700,940 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,841,000 after purchasing an additional 510,291 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.00% of the company’s stock.

About QuidelOrtho

QuidelOrtho is a global diagnostics company formed through the merger of Quidel Corporation and Ortho Clinical Diagnostics. The combined entity develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of rapid and high-throughput diagnostic solutions across immunoassay, molecular diagnostics and transfusion medicine. Its offerings span point-of-care platforms for acute care testing as well as large-scale automated systems designed for clinical laboratories and blood banks.

The company’s product range includes rapid antigen and antibody tests for infectious diseases, molecular assays utilizing nucleic acid amplification technology, and integrated immunodiagnostic analyzers.